Air Purifiers: Do They Really Work? Here are its Benefits for Air Quality

Northern Thailand Chokes From Hazardous Air Pollution — CHIANG MAI, THAILAND - APRIL 22: An air purifier inside the "clean zone", a room with clean air for respirtory illness patients, at the Suan Dok Hospital on April 22, 2019 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Thailand's Northern Provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai are facing an air pollution crisis. Levels of PM2.5 particles in the air continue to reach hazardous levels causing respiratory and cardiovascular health issues. Forest fires and crop burning are blamed for the increased smoke and haze suffocating the region. Though authorities have restricted and warned against these practices, burning remains widespread. Firefighters and volunteers in the Northern provinces have worked from 6am to 10pm, 7 days a week, to contain and put out fires consuming Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Hospitals have created "safety zones", equipped with air purifiers, to assist the region's more vulnerable residents. Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

For small coverage air cleaning, such as in a room or at home, an air purifier would be beneficial to manage indoor air quality and get rid of pollutants.

Americans spend 90% of their time indoors on average, where pollutants are concentrated and could be much higher than outside. They may be invisible, but air pollutants like mold spores and dust can worsen the symptoms of many respiratory conditions, such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer.

According to LiveScience, there are a lot of benefits an air purifier can offer that makes it worth investing in. For starters, knowing the air quality in your local area can help you understand the air quality problem where you live. Community pharmacist and Co-founder of PillSorted, Zeinab Ardeshir, says "improving indoor air quality greatly impacts our quality of life as more than 90% of modern life is spent indoors. Better quality of air indoors reduces the risk of transmission of pathogens and improves allergy symptoms and breathing conditions. An air purifier works by filtering the air through microscopic filters and trapping the allergens."

Why Air Purifiers are Heaven-Sent

1. Reduces medication use for those struggling with allergies

Studies find that air purifiers help control environmental triggers for allergies. If you have allergies, keeping an air purifier in your room helps keep the allergen level in your room low, reducing the symptoms, a controlled study published in the Yonsei Medical Journal suggests. It also works best in rooms with limited size and may not be as effective in large areas.

2. Filters harmful chemicals

Another study published in Environmental Health Perspectives indicates that pollutants in highly polluted areas are linked with respiratory problems and infectious diseases, which can be dealt with using air purifiers as it filters and releases the now clean air back into the room.

3. Helps with dust

Air purifiers can also brush off microbial contaminants like dust particles which are leading triggers for asthma attack.

4. Removes Mold Spores

Good news! Air purifiers can also remove mold fungi known as spores. Having an air purification system also traps the spores before they land and develop into more mold, always keeping them at bay.

5. Relieves symptoms of Asthma

As air purifiers help manage air quality in your home, exposure to contaminants are limited, thus relieves symptoms of asthma.

6. Reduction of airborne disease

Now more than ever, it is important to tackle ways of purifying the air we breathe with the ongoing outbreaks of airborne diseases such as SARS-CoV-2.

"According to recent research conducted by Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, use of HEPA filter air filtration machines removed almost all traces of airborne SARS-CoV-2 on the Covid wards as well significantly reducing the levels of bacterial, fungal and other viral bioaerosols," Ardeshir told Live Science.

However, it should be noted that an air purifier may only reduce the risk of developing airborne infectious diseases, but won't completely prevent it.

Also read : Harmful Bacteria Survive on Wet Wipes Washed up on Beaches, New Study Finds

Keeping Your Indoor Air Clean

Ardeshir emphasized that air purifiers are only tools to keep the air clean, and is not the sole measure to keep your house have a good air quality.

"To improve indoor air quality at home, a house needs to be well ventilated in order for an air purifier to work properly," she says. "Keeping the indoor environment well ventilated, keeping the doors and windows shut during hay fever season and regularly vacuuming with a HEPA filter, are more important steps in improving the air quality at home."